New postings on a new development on the land Sears Canada owns at Metropolis and Metrotown Mall in Burnaby for 7 new towers.

From vancouvermarket.ca:

Quote:

Concord Pacific‘s preliminary rezoning application will go to City of Burnaby council next week for the master plan of the 8.9 acre Sears Metrotown site at 4750 Kingsway. Concord acquired the site from Sears Canada in 2015 for $100,000,000. The site is currently home to a soon to be closed Sears store, a Toys-R-Us store and a presentation centre.

Initial planning work got underway in 2013 when Sears selected Concord Pacific as the developer, but had been partly delayed pending the City of Burnaby’s revision of the Metrotown Downtown Plan, completed earlier this year.

The purpose of the current rezoning application is to establish a Conceptual Master Plan, Design Guidelines and a detailed first phase of development, which would provide for specific development rights for the initial phase; and guide further applications for the development of the site which will include substantial commercial and residential components. The site is designated for high density development utilizing the RM-5s and C3 guidelines.

The overall vision for the site is described as: ” a pedestrian-oriented, transit-connected
community that reflects the strong urban design principles and an urban form unique in the City. The Sears Metrotown site is envisioned to be fully integrated with the surrounding Metro Downtown neighbourhood and the broader Town Centre through the creation of new vehicle, pedestrian and cycling connections to existing streets to the north including McMurray and McKercher Avenues, as well facilitating new future connections to the south and west through the Metropolis at Metrotown site and Station Square.”

Just for the record, this is not a new posting. It was posted and discussed a few weeks ago in the Burnaby Updates thread. That said, it is a good idea that a project of this significance should have its own thread, so thank you for starting one.

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The Phase I site, as shown in Figure #4, is bound by Kingsway to the north, Nelson Avenue to the east, a new dedicated McMurray Avenue to the west and a new statutory right-of-way road "Metro Way" to the south. The site comprises a singular podium element that frames the adjacent streets, by way of two high volume commercial levels and one level of amenity, including a potential commercial gym facility available to residents. Above the commercial and amenity podium are three residential high-rise buildings ranging in height of between 35 - 65 storeys, with the signature and tallest tower situated at the corner of Nelson Avenue and Kingsway. Although there is a consistent thematic design of the buildings within the development along Kingsway, including the curved facades and graphic elements along the balcony glass, the signature tower is elevated in its materials and design in order to bookend the Metro Downtown Neighbourhood with the signature tower proposed at the corner of Kingsway and McKay within the Station Square development.

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Phase II located from McKercher Avenue east, as shown in Figure #8, is a continuation of the theme established in Phase I. The smallest of the four phases, Phase II proposes a narrower, but deeper podium element that frames Kingsway and McKercher, by way of two high volume commercial levels and one level of amenity. Above the commercial and amenity podium is a single residential high-rise building ranging in height of between 40-55 storeys. This is the second tallest tower on the site, emphasizing the overall curvature of the tower heights.

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Phase III located between McMurray Avenue and McKercher Avenue, as shown in Figure #9, will be a continuation of the theme established in Phases I and II. Phase III continues the proposed two high volume commercial levels and one level of amenity, with the opportunity for a key anchor retailer to be take both levels of retail. Above the commercial and amenity podium are proposed a two residential high-rise building ranging in height of between 20-45 storeys. These two towers, along with the third tower within Phase I on the east side of McMurray Avenue, represent the bottom of the U in the skyline across the site, but are just as expressive as the other towers proposed for the site. One of the key elements of all buildings on the site, in addition to the curvature along Kingsway is the orientation and curvature of the tower tops.

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Phase IV, as shown on Figure #11, is south of Kingsway internal to the site, and encompasses the existing Sears Metrotown and Toys R Us building. Given existing lease terms for Sears Canada and Toys R Us and an existing operating agreement Ivanhoe Cambridge owner of Metropolis at Metrotown, Phase IV was identified as the last phase of development. However, should lease and operating agreement terms change, Phase IV could be developed at any time. The intended form of development is for a larger anchor retail user on the ground and second level and a single high-rise commercial tower ranging in height between 20 and 30 storeys. Above the retail component is an extensive podium landscaped area which will provide the necessary outdoor amenity area to serve a head office or major hotel user of the tower.

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The Master Plan and Phase I plans have been prepared by IBI Group to ensure that the Phase I building design is seamlessly integrated with the Master Plan Vision. As noted, in the vision component of the plan, and as noted earlier in this report, a thematic design concept is being pursued drawing from the Kingsway ridge as the headwaters for several watersheds in Burnaby. This has been represented in the buildings architecture where balconies undulate mimicking flowing water along the Kingsway frontage. An additional design element to emphasise concept water and topography is the application of a ceramic frit super graphic on to the balcony glass. At their top, the buildings a highly articulated mechanical penthouse form is proposed mimicking the coastal mountains.

There's a lot more, included how many storeys for each of the buildings in Phase 1 and proposed number / type of suites.

As noted, in the vision component of the plan, and as noted earlier in this report, a thematic design concept is being pursued drawing from the Kingsway ridge as the headwaters for several watersheds in Burnaby. This has been represented in the buildings architecture where balconies undulate mimicking flowing water along the Kingsway frontage. An additional design element to emphasise concept water and topography is the application of a ceramic frit super graphic on to the balcony glass. At their top, the buildings a highly articulated mechanical penthouse form is proposed mimicking the coastal mountains.

This could still change a lot - it's only at second reading for the master plan and none of the individual buildings have started rezoning yet.

those swirly things look corny and do nothing for the architecture, just fight against it..if they are truly interested in the headwaters of Burnaby, they should give 50 million towards stream rehabilitation and protection in the area

I hate this kind of bland and useless referral to nature while the REAL nature languishes

65 storeys with a 4 storey crown and 5 storey podium. I think this could end up nearly as tall as Gilmore Place.

5 storey podium would typically be included as part of the 65 storey height.
(as in, depending on how the podium is divided in the retail component, it could be counted 2 or 3 separate storeys and not 5 storeys or a single storey)

The crown tends to be a bit trickier since designers will class the top roof level as a single storey even though the total height shows it to have the equivalent of 3 or 4 (or more) residential level storey heights.

It's yet another reason why actual building heights matter when assessing and comparing these buildings against each other.

A 60 storey building could still end up being overall shorter than a 50 storey building next door simply because the 50 storey building has higher floor-to-floor heights and like I hinted, a taller crown feature or podium or even taller penthouse levels (and several of them at that)